News

Wow, what a show! Priapus/Burma/Backslider/Nimbus Terrifix/Shit Horse in Raleigh, NC

Sorry for the brevity of this review — life kind of happened as it tends to do. To skip a few steps of explanation, I ended up filling in playing bass for the band Burma for this show. It was on April Fool’s Day at the Kent Street House in Raleigh, NC…

Backslider (photo by Will Butler)

I got there nice and early after practicing with Burma for the first real time (the day of the show). I’m glad I was there early because I got to see Priapus play. Priapus is a tech grind band from Greensboro, featuring Kevin from Malebolgia. The band has the Discordance Axis-worshiping sound and almost sounds like a live Agoraphobic Nosebleed. I admit I left partway through their set to grab some equipment and get stoked to play.

Next was Burma with me on bass. I haven’t played in a band since I was 16 or 17, so it was good to do it again. Had no problem with the songs, having learned them over a two week time frame. To tell the truth, I keep getting them stuck in my head when I go to bed and wake up in the mornings, so I think I learned them too well. I was very lucid while playing so I can describe us surprisingly well. Drumming was tight; I don’t think I realized until we were playing how well Kane plays the drums… his drum fills perfectly led up to the endings of songs. I saw my roommate accidentally pull down part of the ceiling during the set. Matt, the singer, kicked a 24-pack out of someone’s hands who was throwing beer around on everybody. Here is a short video of the set, if you want to see my friend Patrick from Backslider haranguing me with his video camera:

Third to play was Backslider. I was hoping they’d have their new split out for the show, but no such luck. I also hoped that Pat would have the Mind As Prison/Disciples of Christ split out on his label. Those were not ready either. Bummer. What wasn’t a bummer was Backslider! Two-man power violence done up right. People were pretty still during their set. I don’t know if that is a bad thing, but it allowed me to get some great pictures in that small basement. Tight set.

Backslider (photo by Will Butler)

Nearing the end of the night, Nimbus Terrifix played. The band is ex-Dead Radical. They play a kind of orchestrated noise-violence. I think I was annoyed that I couldn’t get a good angle to take their picture. People finally woke up and got a bit crazy during their set.

Nimbus Terrifix (photo by Will Butler)

Last band was a local band called Shit Horse. They were a nice fresh sound after a night of hardcore. They were more of a psych garage rock band, I suppose you could say. They have a delightful front man who was being pretty funny the whole night, and wore a velour over-sized hoodie that made him look like he might be a boxer or an MC. During their set they had a girl in very little clothing, who was donning a horse head and a toy machine gun and dancing around in the crowd. Weird schtick but good music and something to talk about at the end of a good night.

Nimbus Terrifix and Backslider (photo by Will Butler)

Besides being MRR.com’s premier show reviewer/photographer combo, Will Butler‘s claims to fame are To Live A Lie Records and Fastcore Photos. If you take photos and like to write about punk shows (or if you and a friend wanna team up to do this) drop us a line at webzine@maximumrocknroll.com with a sample review and pics, and maybe you too can be a MRR shitblogger!